Chaos Heroes: The Dawn of Chaos
by Magnetin
Summary: The first installment of a huge crossover. The awakening of the Zohar has send Chris and his friends on the journey of a lifetime filled with action, adventure, humor and romance as they meet their heroes and explore places you only dreamed of.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I only own myself, Dragon Chronicles, the overall plot-line. Everything else belongs to their representative owners.

"A dedication to all making this possible."

The Dawn of Chaos.

* * *

"I've always wonder about somethings lately... Is this for real or not?"

* * *

April 11, 20XX AD (Sunday - 15:53) Clear

A human male, in his early 20's, was working on his computer within the comfort of his own home. His name was Christopher. He invited his three friends over. Two of them, a tall one, who's named Evan, and a short one, who's named Carmen, were playing a game, Naruto Shippuden: GNT EX 3, while another, who's named Angela, was getting drinks. He was looking at his e-mail when he saw something that would shock the rest of them.

"What's this?" He said. "'Giant golden object found in ancient ruins by Archeologists.'" He then saw the picture of the object which caused him to rise out of his seat. "Holy Crap! Guys, come check this out!"

"One second!" Carmen said. "Gotcha now!"

"Dang it!" the tall, African-American said.

"No escape! Eight-Trigram, Two-Palms, Four-Palms, Eight-Palms, Sixteen-Palms, 32-palms, 75-hit-combo-palms! And that's game!"

"Aww, man, Car."

"Don't blame me, dude! I'm just that damn good!" Carmen said with a smirk. Angela walked out of the kitchen with some sodas.

"What happen?" Angela asked.

"I got raped again." Evan said, getting upset that his loses keep on increasing.

"You mean, Palmed?" Carmen stated.

"Damn, you to hell!" Evan said softly, shaking his fist. Carmen laughed at this.

"GUYS! I found something that you may want to see!" Chris said. Getting his friends attention, he moved away from the computer and looked at the monitor. "Does THAT look familiar to you?" Chris pointed to the picture displayed on the web site.

"Holy Crap! Is that..." Evan said.

"Yes!" Chris said. "The Original Zohar!"

"This has to be some sick joke!" Carmen said. "Cause I'm not laughing." They knew the dangers of the Zohar and the mayhem that follows soon after. Angela was puzzled, though.

"Wait, why's the Zohar in the real world. Isn't it from the game, Xenosaga?" She asked.

"Supposing." Carmen replied. "Now we see that it isn't."

"Oh boy... Will we hear the song, though?" Chris said, covering his eyes with his hand.

"I don't know, but we're dead if we do." Carmen said.

"I just hope we survive this." Chris said to himself. His friends nodded in response. "Well, if any of us hears the song, immediately call each other."

* * *

Same Day (21:50)

Chris and Angela were having a nice, summer night stroll. They enjoyed each others company. But with the Zohar, they knew that their time together will be cut severly. Chris was in deep thought about this and Angela couldn't help but notice.

"What's on your mind, Chris?" She asked.

"I'm just worried that we might have to part ways for a while." Chris replied. "I've waited a long time to finally meet you in person. But now it's..." Angela took a step closer.

"I'm worried myself. I don't know if I should be scared or what. But wait, if the Zohar exists, then that means..."

"Other worlds must exist! And that means... I get to meet Sonic!" His eyes gleamed with excitement.

"And I get to meet Pikachu!" Her eyes gleamed as well.

"There is some good in this. But why does the Earth need to suffer for it?"

"That must be... how fate is..."

"But, it'll be bad for us if we don't have anything to fight the Gnosis or escape Earth." At that moment, Angela looked around and saw a light coming out of a dark alley. It's was a bright white color.

"What's that in the alley?" Angela pointed. Chris looked and saw the light as well. They walked over to the alley and saw a white gemstone. It was the source of the color. The light was brighter than the street lights. Chris reaches over and grabbed the gemstone. Both of them looked at it for a few minutes.

"A Chaos Emerald?" Chris said, as it was the first thing to come to his mind.

"Wow! That's a REAL Chaos Emerald!" Angela said in amazement.

"If this IS a Chaos Emerald, then..." Chris said as his surprise expression slowly turns like a child waking up on Christmas to see his presents.

"Oh, is it, Sonic?" Angela asked playfully.

"Yes! And I'll be able to use Chaos Control!" Chris said proudly.

"Yeah! Dreams DO come true!" Angela cheered.

"Hey, If I can learn Chaos Control before the Gnosis come, we might have a chance!" Chris said. "But I can't rid the world of the Gnosis... Even with all seven emerald, it'll be close to impossible."

"What about me, Evan and Carmen?" Angela said. "Can't we help?"

"Well, we only have one available emerald. And only one of us can use it at a time."

"True."

"I'll hang on it the emerald and practice Chaos Control. Who knows when the song will play..."

"But how will we get off the Earth?"

"That I don't know. It's getting late." Chris said, putting the emerald in his pocket. He continues to walk her back home which wasn't far.

* * *

For the past few days, Chris has been spending his time perfecting Chaos Control. Out of all his attempts, he only got one off for about 3 secs at the most, to which he faints from due to exhaustion. "Too... much..." Was all he said as he flopped onto his bed.

* * *

April 16, 20XX AD (Friday - 12:00) Cloudy

For the rest of the week, Chris continued on perfecting Chaos Control as he was off from work. But who could really think of work when the world's at stake. He also trained with his sword as it would prove useful, but he really wants to learn magic. After taking a break, he when to the kitchen and made himself some ramen. He was enjoying a pleasant lunch until he heard a young girl singing a familiar melody.

"That's..." Chris said. "...the song?" At that moment Chris' phone rings. He hears the phone say: "Call from Di'carlo C." "Carmen?" He picks up the phone in the kitchen. "Hello?"

"Tell me that you're not hearing a familiar song right now." Carmen said. "Cause my ears are deceiving me."

"The song, right?"

"So you CAN hear it as well? We're dead."

"Actually I got something that can help us."

"What is it?"

"Call Ev and hurry over! I'll call Angela in advance." Chris hanged the phone up before picking it up. At that very moment the door bell rang. He hurries over to the door and opens it. It was indeed, Angela.

"Wow, you catch on quick!" Chris said.

"I was worried. So I came here as soon as possible." Angela said, letting herself in. She had a mallet with her to defend herself.

"Car just call me. He and Ev are on their way." Chris said. "I'm going to get my sword and the emerald. If Evan or Carmen is at the door, let them in."

"Roger!" Angela saluted. Chris hurried to grabbed his sword and the emerald.

"Hope we can live from thing." Chris said to himself, as he looks at the emerald. He makes the way back down the steps as the door knocks. Angela opens to see Carmen with his own sword and another sword.

"Where's those Gnosis?" Carmen said. "I'm ready to put a cap in their ass!"

"I'll put the news on." Chris said, as he grabbed the remote and turn it to ABC.

"For those just tuning in this isn't a drill. All over the world an unknown melody of a young girl singing is being heard. No one knows where the melody is coming from. But that's not all, as soon as the melody was played, most of the civilians have begun to fight amongst each other, friends, even family are tearing each other apart."

"That's the power of the song." Chris said. "Those who aren't true to themselves, will go berserk." Another knock was hurried at the door. Carmen opens it to reveal it to be Evan.

"You made it, dingbat." Carmen said.

"Yes, I made it." Evan said. "And shut up." Carmen laughed at Evan's comeback as he gave Evan the other sword he brought.

"Well, it's happening." Chris stated. "There's no turning back now."

"But how are we getting off of here." Evan said.

"I got this." Chris reveal the emerald he had.

"A CHAOS EMERALD?!" Evan said with surprise on his voice. "Holy Crap!"

"I guess that solves it." Carmen said. "Can you use it?"

"I've been learning to use Chaos Control." Chris explained. "It's tiring, but I've can hold it for 10 seconds at most."

"Nice, you're getting there." Carmen said. "I've been getting my sword training on as well."

"Our best bet is to warp to where the Zohar is located at."

"But we don't know where it is?" Angela said.

"Just picture the Zohar in your mind." Just then a crash was heard from the TV.

"What's going on? Oh my god! One of our people turned into some ghost-like creature and grabbed others." An image shows a human getting turned into a Gnosis and grabbed one of the camera crew members. The captives body begins to turn white and began to break apart and dissolve into nothing. "HOLY-!!!" The Gnosis grabbed the camera and broke it, disrupting the signal. Just then a crash was heard outside. The group looked out the window to see some of the neighbors fighting amongst each other, like the news said.

"We better go now!" Chris said. "Picture the Zohar." The group combine their power together with made the emerald glow brightly. "Chaos Control!" With a blinding flash of light, the group disappeared from the living room and re-appears in a room. It was the corridor to the Zohar.

"Perfect! The Zohar is just ahead." The group hurried to the Zohar, where they met Dr. Masuda.

"Who are you?" He asked. "The exhibit isn't open to the public yet. How did you get in here?"

"That doesn't matter right now. Have you seen the news?" Chris said. "There are millions of civilians killing each other."

"I've heard that. But what does that has that got to do with me?"

"It's the Zohar. Awakening it triggered some melody that's causing this crisis."

"Even if that were true. What can you do about it?"

"Umm..." Chris hasn't really thought about that. "Well, we have weapons. But, they're more for show... heh..." A crash was heard from outside. Some policeman hurried into the Zohar room.

"Those strange creatures are heading this way!" The officer said.

"It's true then." Dr. Masuda said.

"Now do you believe us?" Chris asked.

"We keep firing, but nothing's working!" The officer relaying the battle status.

"They aren't of this plane. They can phase through walls and things like ghosts can, but can grab things without needing to shift planes."

"How can we fight something we can't hit?"

"Physical things can't touch them, but try explosion or flame-throwers."

"In a museum?"

"It's life and death here, bub!" Carmen said. The officer began to issue the order of using explosives and flame-throwers. Angela approached Dr. Masuda.

"Excuse me, Doctor. But isn't it possible to decipher the text? Surely we can defeat the Gnosis."

"We haven't fully translated the ancient text. And thanks to this crisis, we can't risk it."

"Shit!" Carmen cursed at their luck. A crash was heard from one of the entrances.

"They broke through!" A officer said.

"They must be after the Zohar!" Chris said. The others agreed as well. The four took up arms and prepared themselves. They saw one of the Gnosis grab an officer as Chris looked at the numbers.

"Four in total... a Goblin, a Golem, a Gremlin and a Manticore."

"You know what they are?"

"Doc, for your own safety, stand back."

The officers distracted the Golem, Gremlin and Manticore, which left the Goblin to our heroes. With their weapons unable to penetrate all they can do is block and evade. Being one of the lesser Gnosis, it didn't really pose a threat, but it was still dangerous.

"We can't just evade all day." Angela said.

"What can we do?" Evan asked, evading the Goblin's strike. He tried to slash it, but it's proved ineffective and the Goblin didn't even flinch.

"What CAN we do?" Chris said himself. 'I am Thou... Thou Art I...' Chris heard a voice reciting a familiar phrase. He got a headache from this, he began to stumble a bit. Most of the officers were too busy getting slaughtered by the Gnosis to notice this. Those that were done set their sights on Chris.

"You okay, dude?" Carmen asked. He began to feel a headache as well hearing the same phrase. Evan and Angela got headaches and heard the same phrase as well.

'Thou art the one who opens the door. The time has come. Open thy eyes and call forth what is within.' The Zohar also began to resonate with the group, a tarot card appeared in their hand.

"Is the Zohar resonating with us?" Angela asked.

"This is!" Evan said, with amazement in his eyes. Flames began to emerge from the tarot card as the four slowly grinned.

"Per-so-na!" As that line was said, flames of different colors began to engulf each group individual member entirely. The Gnosis stood their position as each member shattered the gemstone in their own way, which made the flames grow in size and more brighter. Chris's was a deep blue, Evan's was crimson, Carmen's was black mixed with purple and Angela's was brownish-gold.

'From the sea of thy soul, I come before thee.'

The flames then formed together into their own Persona. Chris was a water-like elemental, with a very distinctive, yet familiar look. Evan's was a muscular-man with horns and huffs with fire for hair. Carmen's was an armored demon. Angela's was a female infant, that don a Greek robe holding a harp.

'I am Chaos!'

"C-chaos..." Chris said as he gazes at his ego. He also notice that his weapon changed as it began engulfed by water as well. "The Dawn of Chaos!"

'I am Ifrit!'

"Ifrit..." Evan said to his persona. His weapon became was engulfed by flames. The blade, itself, was thin, but have a 6 foot reach. A chain spouted from the handle and attached itself to Evan's back. "Ah, snap!"

'I am Alistor!'

"Alistor..." Carmen said with a grin. His weapon changes into a demonic-looking as it was engulfed by lightning. "Now this is awesome!"

'I am Gaia!'

"Gaia..." Angela said to her's. Her weapon changes as it was engulfed with a brownish-gold light. The blade was extendable like a whip. "Whoa!"

"Wha-what is that?!" Dr. Masuda said, amazed at the four creatures.

Our heroes then turn to faced the four Gnosis with their new found power. "Unda!" Chris shouted as he commanded his Persona to douse the Goblin with blades of water.

"Agi!" Evan used his Persona to ignite the Gremlin.

"Zio!" Carmen's Persona electrocuted the Golem.

"Pata!" Angela's Persona ensnared the Manticore with roots from the ground before being pierced with it. Each attack caught the Gnosis off guard and knocked them down. "The enemies down! Now!?" Angela asked. "Got it! It ends here!" The group began to rush in and attack all the downed Gnosis. The assault kicked up dust as slashes and whacks were heard. Some of the group keep getting knocked back, but continued the assault. All remaining was the Golem, still dizzied. Carmen attacked him to finish it.

"That's... how it's done!" Carmen said, as victory was assured.

* * *

After the battle, the group looked up at their own persona as a phrase recited in their heads. 'Thou has face thy other self... thee has obtain the facade to overcome life's hardships.' The Personae returned into tarot cards again before fading into their representative owner's soul.

"Wow, then this means..." Chris said as endless possibilities began to flow through his mind. Angela jumped for joy and hugged him as she was happy too. Evan and Carmen exchanges high fives with each other.

"Dr. Masuda! It's okay now!" Chris said. But he heard no response. "Dr. Masuda?" The group saw the doctor lying on the ground motionless. "No! Don't tell me!" He rolls the doctor over to see that his eyes were open, but no soul nor glimmer was in them.

"What's the cause?" Evan asked. Chris looks up at the Zohar.

"My guess is that he wasn't worthy enough to receive such power and the Zohar must of siphon his soul when it resonated with us."

"But now what do we do?" Angela said. "Without Dr. Masuda, we have no way of deciphering the text."

'What do thou seek?' A voice was heard from the Zohar. Chris got up as he heard the voice.

'For love? For hate?' Angela gazed at the Zohar.

'For truth? For lies?' Evan turned to the Zohar.

'For power? For allegiance?' Carmen looked at the Zohar.

'For life? For death? For vengeance? For dream? For heroism? For villainy? For destiny? Whatever thou seeks, thou shall open the door and obtain what is most desired. But proceed with caution, for thou has no way of turning back.' As the phrase was said a door appeared in front of the Zohar.

* * *

"W-where did that door come from?" Angela asked.

"So it's not just me." Chris said.

"Where do you think it leads to?" Carmen asked.

"Anywhere is better than staying here." Chris stated. They didn't really have anywhere else to go with the Gnosis still on the loose. Evan and Carmen each grabbed a handle on the door and pulled it open. All was in there was a think fog, which was way too dense to see anything.

"S-should we really do this?" Angela asked nervously. "There's no return once we go in, right? How do we know if we'll be together?"

"To be honest, I don't know." Chris admitted. "But if we stay here, we won't get anywhere. But I have a feeling we'll meet again. At any rate, I can't wait to start this journey."

"You almost sound like Sonic." Angela stated.

"Maybe his persona's rubbing off on me." Chris chuckled.

"We do have an invitation to party." Carmen said, revealing his tarot card. "Better not pass up this opportunity. Shall we, dingbat?"

"Oh, I'm ready." Evan said. "Don't worry about me!" Evan and Carmen proceed to enter the door and disappeared into the fog.

"Umm..." Angela was still nervous about going. Chris lend out his hand.

"We'll go together!"

"Yeah!" Angela grabbed Chris's hand as she followed Chris into the fog. The door closes behind them and disappears into thin air.

* * *

Upon entering through the door, the group finds themselves within the foggy area. They found themselves on a pathway that slowly stretches forward. They walked down to find a platform with a mural Super Sonic fighting Perfect Chaos with the seven Chaos Emeralds in it, circling around the Master Emerald, the fog here was least dense than on the but the fog around the edge was very dense. The pathway behind them disappeared and four alters appeared each holding a weapon, one's a sword and shield, one's pair of daggers, one's a staff and one's a bow and a bible.

As the group went over to the alters. Chris picked the staff. Evan picked the sword and shield. Carmen picked the dual-daggers. Angela picked the bow and the bible.

Four iron maidens suddenly appeared in front of them, quickly opened up as hands grabbed each member and pulled them in the iron maidens as they closed and vibrated a bit before shoving the four back out with a different attire. Chris had a mage robe on over his attire, Evan was equipped with a chainmail, with a red shirt, and legguards, Carmen had leather jacket, over his shirt, leather pants, and leather boots and Angela had a leather robe over a shirt and some leather pants. There weapons were also thrown out as the iron maidens disappeared. The group gets up and sees a pathway become visible as the fog was a bit clearer.

The quartet walk down this path until the got to another platform this had a mural of the Son of Sparta fighting Mundus. A shadow appeared from the floor and began to form into a ball-like creature with a mouth, it had a mask on it's back. The quartet began to fight the shadow as more appeared after it until one was left. As it fade into the platform darkness began to over take it, but another pathway was revealed as the quartet began to hurry across it to another platform with a mural of a woman in a robe being sealed in a coffin.

Another woman was standing at the edge of the platform, before turning to the group and spouts a grin as four lights emerge from behind the group as their shadows eclipse the woman who begins to absorb them and manifest into a bigger, and more fierce, shadow, Shadowself. It was black and had a upside-down heart mask over the center of it's torso, a wyvern mask over it's head, and two wings, one of them looking like it's been ripped of. The group had no where to run and began to engage it with all their might, Evan distracted it while Carmen climbed up it's back and started slashing it. Chris started casting spells, while Angela was shooting the head with arrows and heal whenever someone needed it.

After the battle, the shadow began to summon portals underneath their feet and began to pull them in as undead hands grabbed them. Evan and Carmen pushed Chris and Angela out of there portal as they sank in. Another portal formed under Chris and Angela, in which Angela pushed him out of, but was pulled in herself. And finally a third portal formed and pulled Chris in, his last vision was Shadowself as it finally goes dark around him. He heard a voice: 'And so... it finally... begins...'

* * *

A pair of eyes opened up to see fog as far as they can see, but it looks like the being is standing on a dock. Through out the fog a pair of lights was seen. The being moved out of the way as the lights reveal the lights were headlights of a boat, a yacht to be exact. It came to a halt in front of the dock as one of the yacht doors opened up.

"Come in..."

The being did just that and sat down. Two figures were already seated on the other end of the room. One was a young, mature-looking woman, she had blond hair with a blue hairband and don a blue suit. The other was an old man with a very mysterious look on his face. He had a cane, a long, pointy nose, and wear a black tuxedo.

"Welcome... to the Velvet Room." The old man said. "Ah... it seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny..." He chuckled. "My name is Igor... I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter... It maybe that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Don't worry, I already know who you are, you don't need to tell me." He chuckled. "Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we?" With a wave of his hand a stack of cards magically appears on the table.

"Do you believe in fortune telling?" This yet another wave, the cards moved on their own before separating into seven cards in V formation across the table, pointing towards the person. "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different..." He chuckles. "Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it? Now, let's see." Igor flips a card.

"The card representing the past is... The Tower... In the upright position... A terrible catastrophe was imminent in which the lives of many had their destiny changed." Flipping the next card.

"The card representing the present is... The Fortune... In the upright position... A power fate awaits you at your destination which intertwines with your destiny. Our meeting and your new found power is such a fate." Flipping the next card.

"Oh my, the card representing the immediate future is... The Death... In the upright position... In the places that you're going to, a terrible tragedy is imminent as many lives will be lost... I most certainly only hope that you aren't one of them... The cause is unknown at the moment."

"The card representing the pathway through this is... The Justice... In the upright position... Your sense of justice will allow you to rise to the challenge, use your new powers to fight against it and make the choice you think is right."

"The card representing the surrounding energy after this is... The Magician... In the upright position... Your awakening to your power will allow you to face the current threat and those who wish to do you harm."

"To do that, you'll make new friends who will help you as you assist them with their lives... as stated by The Hierophant representing the resistance... In the upright position."

"And the last card is... The Fool... In the upright position... The result of completing your current journey, you will then partake in a new one and form a contract, after which you will return here. The coming years is a turning point in your destiny, if your quest goes unfinished, your future maybe forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen." He waves his hand and made all cards vanish.

"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistance to you." He turns to the woman sitting next to him. "This is Margaret. She is a residents of this place, like myself."

"My name is Margaret. I'm here to accompany you throughout your journey." Margaret said. "Next we shall give you a class that would suit you the best. You're a careful person, who works hard to make sure everything works right, but you're afraid of being indecisive with choices. You care for your friends more than your own well being. You'll like to take on challenges you can handle and prepare yourself for the challenges ahead. Your desire to live and protect awaken the power within you. Your recommended class is the mage." Margaret waved her hand and thrust it towards the being. "You've automatically given yourself your own set of spells to use and clothing to better suit your class."

"We shall attend to the details another time. Until then farewell... and good luck..." Igor said, before the vision around the being began to fade.

Next: Baaj Temple and the Airship

Chris awakes to find himself alone in Spira and must do whatever he can to survive.


	2. Baaj Temple and the Airship

September 13, 2010 AD (Sunday - Evening) Cloudy

Chris awakes to find himself lying on a submerged structure, all alone.

"I'm... alive..." He grunted in pain from his aching body. "Oh man... what hit me?" Holding his head. "Where... am I?" He examined the surroundings and sees the area was all submerged in water. "Man, I should of practice swimming when I had the chance..." He then dove into the water and began to swim, trying his best to stay afloat. He sees some stairs. "All... most... there..." He said in-between breaths. He makes it to shore all tired out as he spits out the salt water from his mouth. Then he lied down to rest.

After he calm down a bit and aches began to subside a little bit. "Alright... First thing is that I need to know where I am." He rolls on his stomach to push himself up. He looks to notice a floating sphere near some torn down structure. "Is that..?" He stands and wobbles his way to the sphere as he placed his hand to touch it. The moment he did, his body filled up with energy and all his aches and wounds vanished. "I'm all better now!"

He looks down at his clothing. "My outfit is like... a mage. But it looks more waterproof." Before looking at his new weapon. "The Dawn of Chaos? Didn't I draw you? Never knew you were real." He swung the weapon to check it's flexibility. "Go thing I worked on my swordplay... How can I put it aw-- Oh!" The moment he send that his weapon turned into water and sank into his left hand. "Nice!"

Chris found a spell book in this pocket to see what he can use. "Oh! Good spells!" His active spells are Arcane Intellect, the Five Elemental Bolts, Earth Spike, Stone Curse, Frost Armor, Napalm Beat, Arcane Missile and Conjured Food and Drink. His passive skills were, Increase Mind Recovery, Staff Mastery, Wand Mastery and Weapon Mastery. He also had a set of abilities ready to use, Dodge Roll, Guard and Mermaid Kick.

He examined the building over the distance. "That's Baaj Temple. So... I'm in Spira." Chris sees the fallen structure that stretches over the water like a bridge and finds a figure walking across. Chris notice who it was by his suit. "Tidus!?" Chris follows him across the bridge up to the middle of it. Chris sees Tidus stop as he looks into the water and sees something moving in the water. Suddenly a tremor was felt which started to make the bridge around Tidus's position crack. Chris caught wind to this. "WATCH OUT!" Tidus heard Chris cry, but another tremor caused the bridge to collapse and send Tidus down into the water. Chris hurried to grab him but missed his hand by a inch. Another tremor was felt which caused Chris to fall in with parts of the bridge as well. Chris struggled in the water. _I can't breath!_ But realized that he was alright. _I CAN breath!_ He emerged at the surface as did Tidus.

"You okay?!" Chris asked.

"I'm okay, just startled." Tidus replied. "But who are you?"

"I'm Chris, but that's not important right now. We need to get back to land." Tidus agreed with Chris's logic. But soon they got ambushed by three fish-like monsters, Sahagin. Since Tidus is a blitzball player, he fair well. Chris, on the other hand, never fought underwater before. One of the three chased Chris while Tidus was busy with the other two. The commotion of the fight, woke up a giant fish fiend, Geosgaeno, that was sleeping. Chris saw this and swam out of the way. The Sahagin that was chasing Chris was devoured by the bigger one. Tidus dispatched the two before seeing it. Chris and Tidus teamed up on Geosgaeno, but where outmatched by it and decided to retreat. Tidus distracts the fiend while Chris finds an exit. He sees a window and swims to it. As he was doing that Tidus made the fiend hit a wall at full speed, causing some of the rubble to fall on it and bury it for a bit.

"HEY, TIDUS! OVER HERE!" Chris shouted before he swam inside. Tidus followed Chris with the fiend, who recovered from being KO'ed, follows close behind. Tidus manages to escape certain death. Tidus was swimming so fast he knocked Chris aside and slid to a wall. The window got blocked by rubble. The two laid on the staircase to catch their breath.

"Ok... Let's not do that again." Chris said.

"Agree." Tidus nodded. The two regain the composure and continued through the hallway until they reached a big circular room. Most of the room has collapsed and has some water running through the rubble, similar to those metal fountains you see in stores. All the water and night atmosphere made the room very cold. And the water on their clothing made it even colder.

"C-c-cold!" Tidus said, shivering.

"Le-let's find s-someth-thing to start a fi-fi-fire!" Chris suggested as Tidus nodded. The two split up for a tinder and something that can catch fire quick. There was some charcoal in the center of the floor. Tidus found a flint in one of the rooms, while Chris found a withered bouquet in the hallway on the other side of the room. Chris placed the bouquet around the charcoal while Tidus began to lit it with the flint. It didn't take long for the fire to start. The two began to feel the heat filling the room. Chris sat close to warm up while Tidus laid down. Chris took this time to recap on what happen thus far.

"Man, so much happened." Chris said, he thought of the time he played Final Fantasy X and knows what to expect, but will he be able to fight Sin is the question. He remembers the Persona he received from the Zohar, Chaos. Before Chris can figure what to do with his Persona, he heard a sound from the other side of the room. He couldn't find anything, but kept his guard up by drawing his weapon. "I know you're there..." He whispered to himself.

"He-hey, Chris!" Tidus shouted, while looking at the fire. "The fire's going out."

"Tidus, I think we have company!" Chris warned, but was ignored.

"I'll get more wood!" Tidus hurried off but stopped when he saw it. A fiend clinging to the balcony, Klikk. The fiend moved along the wall before jumping of the wall and landing on the campfire. Tidus engaged with it while Chris figures how to fight it using magic.

_Tap into your mana pool!_

"That voice."

'Concentrate! Focus on igniting your opponent!' Chris focused on tapping into his mana pool. He imaged a flame growing bigger and more fierce until the whole image was covered by the flame. He became surrounded by a red aura and his eyes glow red as he open them. _Now call it out!_

**"Fire Bolt!"** With the wave of his hand as a flaming arrow came out of it and hit the fiend's blindspot. It was overwhelmed by the damage and fell over. Chris panted a bit in amazement. "It worked and looks like it hurt!"

"That was great!" Tidus was amazed as well. Chris then took the opportunity to cast another Fire Bolt spell before the fiend could got up in hopes of making it dizzy. Another flaming arrow came down and hit the fiend, dizzying it. The two then ganged up for an all-out assault on the fiend. It was still dizzied. Tidus took this time to use Spiral Slash for major damage, while Chris focus on cast some more fire bolt spells seeing how it was the most effective.

The battle raged on until a door was blast opened by an explosion. Chris was almost hit by one of the doors as it flew by. The two saw a bunch of people emerge from the smoke. The one in front was a young girl came to assist on the fight against Klikk.

Tidus keep the fiend at bay, while the girl readied with a grenade. Chris then cast a different spell, this time he was surrounded by a light brown aura. He ran up behind the fiend before placing his hand on it's tail. **"Stone Curse!"** Chris latched a curse on the fiend, before being whacked to a stone pillar. The fiend's slowly body began to turn into stone, hindering it's movement, before fully turning to stone. The fiend's body began to slowly break apart and dissolve into grains of dust. The pain from hitting the pillar left Chris motionless for a moment, trying to recover, but he could hear what was going on...

"Whew! That was close." Hearing Tidus' voice. "Hey, lemme go!"

"Fryd ec drec? (What is this?)" One of the Al Bhed said. Chris was a little rusty with his Al Bhed.

"Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca! Oac! Ed ec cu! (A fiend! In human disguise! Yes! It is so!)" Another said.

"Fa gemm ed? (We kill it?)" The third one said.

"Fyed? Fryd ev ed ec risyh? (Wait? What if it is human?)" The girl's voice was heard.

"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr. (They are the same in death.)"

"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic. (I forbid it! We bring it with us.)"

All Chris heard was a punch and a body dropping to the floor. A few moments past as Chris heard the two walking away with Tidus. He took the time to slowly got back up and checked his back to make sure it's not broken. He heads through the busted doorway and follow the way until it lead outside to the Al Bhed Ship, where he sees Tidus being taken. There was some cargo that haven't been stored yet on the bridge. Chris sneak into one of the crates, it was steel and watertight. Shortly after, Chris felt the crate moving as it was being lift up by the crane. Chris stood still as best as he could as the crane slowly lowered the crate before releasing it.

_Man, how does Solid Snake get so use to this?_ Chris thought to himself.

"Dea tufh dra lenku yht gaab tydlr uh dra lybdeja. (Tie down the cargo and keep watch on the captive.)" One of the Al Bhed said. The two Al Bhed began to do as they were told as they placed a tarp over the cargo. Chris began to feel a sensation on his nose as the dust began to kick up.

_Oh no! Not now!_ Chris thought, trying to keep himself from sneezing. He held his nose to prevent it, but he was gonna sneeze anyway. Just as the Al-Bhen where done, Chris sneezed.

"Fryd fyc dryd? (What was that?)" An Al Bhed said, hearing the sneeze.

_Great! I'm done for!_ Chris thought as chills when down his spine. He heard the Al Bhed approaching close as his heartbeat steadily increases. The crate began to open up from it's side slowly. It fully opened as Chris saw the Al Bhed and the Al Bhed saw Chris. Chris was paralyzed with fear.

"Y cdufyfyo!? (A stowaway!?)" One of them said.

"H-h-hi, guys... What's up...?" Chris barely said. After a few minutes, he was hog-tied by the Al Bhed and placed near Tidus. Chris was a few moments away from death.

"Fa vuiht drec cdufyfyo retehk ed dra lenku. Fryd tu oui fyhd du tu? (We found this stowaway hiding in the cargo. What do you want to do?)" One of the Al Bhed said.

"Gemm ed, uv luinca! (Kill it, of course!)" An Al Bhed with a Mohawk said. Chris didn't like the sound of that as he got goosebumps.

"Cdub! (Stop!)" Another voice was heard. It was the girl. "Oui'mm hud gemm res, aedran! (You'll not kill him, either!)"

"Aedran? (Either?)" The Mohawk Al Bhed asked. "Veha. (Fine.)" The girl returned into the ship. "Gaab tydlr uh res yht dra udran. (Keep watch on him and the other.)" The Mohawk Al Bhed went back in the ship leaving two on-guard. Chris gave a hearty sigh of relief as his life was spared. He laid back and looked up into the sky, wondering was will happen next.

"Man, there goes a few years of my lifespan." Chris said. His body began to feel the goosebumps all over his body from the atmosphere. "It's cold..." After a few moments of silence, Chris looked towards Tidus who was still out. He saw a bit of movement as Tidus began to wake up. He slowly gets up and approaches the guards. They noticed him as they turned.

"Ced, lybdeja! (Sit, captive!)" One guard said, elbowing Tidus. Tidus got knocked back but held onto the railing to regain his balance.

"Hey, that hurts!" Tidus said, holding the spot that hurt.

"Hu sujehk, rayn? (No moving, hear?)" The other said, pointing his weapon at Tidus.

"Whoa... Okay." Right there, the door hatch opens and the girl and the Mohawk Al Bhed came out.

"Caynlr res! (Search him!)" The Mohawk Al Bhed said. The girl when beside Tidus. The Mohawk Al Bhed began to do some form of body language. Chris almost laughed at this.

"Right. Whatever." Tidus couldn't make out what the Mohawk Al Bhed wanted.

"Tu oui hud cbayg? (Do you not speak?)" He said, the Mohawk Al Bhed showed Tidus a pair of goggles.

"I said I don't understand!"

"Ehcumahla! (Insolence!)" An Al Bhed pointed his weapon to Tidus.

"Fyed! (Wait!)" The girl ordered. "He said you can stay if you make yourself useful." This surprised Tidus greatly.

"You... You understand me?" One of the Al Bhed struck Tidus. "All right, I'll work!" Chris saw this as a chance.

"Umm... Excuse me? May I offer my services as well!" Chris said.

"Oh, sorry..." The girl remembered. "Ihdea res! (Untie him!)" She ordered one of the guards. Chris was freed as he can stood up.

"So what's the mission?" Chris asked, despite the fact he already knew what it is.

"We found some ancient ruins right beneath us." She replied. "It's not active now, but there should be some power left. We're gonna go down there and activate it...and then we should be able to salvage the big prize!"

"Doesn't sound to hard. I can get use to fighting underwater." Chris said.

"Okay! Let's get to work!"

"Roger!"

---

The trio dove into the water and swam down to the Underwater Ruins following a long chain with lead the way to the site. Once inside, turned on the power in the ruins, but this caused an squid field, Tros, to appear. After defeating Tros, the trio swam out of the ruins and followed the light to the sunken airship. Later on the Al Bhed ship...

---

"Fa vuiht dra airship! (We found the airship!)" An Al Bhed said.

"Dra naluntc fana nekrd. (The records were right.)" Another said. Chris and Tidus got back on the ship.

"Huf, ruf du tnyk ed ib? (Now, how to drag it up?)" Tidus follows the Al Bheds in but gets stopped by one of them. "Oui, uidceta! (You, outside!)"

"Hey. I helped out, didn't I?" Tidus said as the door hatch shuts. Chris laughs at this.

"They sure know hospitality, don't they?" Chris chuckled.

"More like hostility." Tidus grunted. "You don't seem like you're from around here?"

"Nice observation!" Chris said. "You're right, though. I'm from a planet called Earth."

"Earth?" Tidus asked.

"My home. It's not bad, but there are somethings I don't care about. Somethings happened and it caused me and my friends to leave it."

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me your story." Chris and Tidus began to talk about what happened between them. After talking a few...

"Okay, so let me get this straight. This scientist found this artifact called the Zohar." Chris nodded. "And it played a melody called the Song of Nephilim." Chris nodded. "Which causes all inhabitants to go berserk and fight amongst each other." Chris nodded. "And those unworthy turn into a ghostly being called 'Ghost-is'."

"Gnosis." Chris corrected.

"Gnosis. And if one touches you long enough, you'll be turned into salt or become one of them." Chris nodded. "And you've found a gemstone called the Chaos Emerald." Chris nodded. "Which can do a great number of things." Chris nodded. "And you used it to reach the Zohar." Chris nodded. "But getting there, you get ambushed by the Gnosis." Chris nodded. "During the fight, you obtained this power called Persona." Chris nodded. "Which is an alter-ego of your personality." Chris nodded. "Which you used to defeat the Gnosis." Chris nodded. "Then you manage to evade death and somehow ended up in those ruins." Chris nodded. "That makes comple-- THAT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE AT ALL!!!" Tidus yelled, flipping a table that wasn't there.

"Oh, and I suppose getting swallowed by a giant sphere-like being while hanging from a destroyed highway, doesn't make sense either?" Chris countered.

"Then again, nothing makes sense as far as I know." Tidus said.

"For any rate, we're alive." Chris said. "That all that matters for now."

"I'll starve to death before anything else." Tidus said, elbow standing on the ship's deck. The door hatched open up as the girl came out with two trays of food. She kicked Tidus in the arm to get his attention as she placed the food down. "Whoa! Right on!" Tidus began to scarf the food.

"Dude, you're gonna choke!" Chris warned, but was ignored as Tidus did began to choke. The girl gave Tidus a canteen of water and Tidus immediately drank the water, he stopped choking and the food went into his body as he sighs with relief. Chris continued eating his meal.

"It's 'cause you eat too fast!" The girl said. Tidus gets up to stretch. "Hey!"

"Hello there. What is your name?"

"Rikku."

Tidus starts to shake both of Rikku's hands rapidly. "Whoa! You really do understand!" Tidus starts to laugh before realizing... "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I didn't get a chance to! Everyone thought oui were a fiend."

"Uh... 'we'?"

"'Oui' means 'you'." Chris stated, slowly finishing his meal.

"Who are you guys, anyway?"

"We're Al Bhed. Can't you tell? Wait. You're not an Al Bhed-hater, are you?"

"I don't even know what an Al Bhed is."

"Where are you from?"

"Zanarkand. I'm a Blitzball player. Star player of the Zanarkand Abes!"

"Did you hit your head or something?"

"Um, you guys hit me."

"Oh, right... Do you remember anything before that?" During Tidus' conversation with Rikku, Chris thought about keeping of what happen on Earth a secret, he didn't want to upset someone, as he finishes off his meal.

"Did I say something funny?" Tidus asked Rikku, who was very quiet.

"You were near Sin." Rikku replied.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Don't worry, you'll be better in no time. They say your head gets funny when Sin is near. Maybe you just had some kind of dream?"

"You mean I'm sick?"

"Because of Sin's toxin, yeah."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, there is no Zanarkand anymore. Sin destroyed it a thousand years ago. So...no one plays Blitzball there."

"Huh? What you do mean a thousand years ago? But I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! You're saying that happened a thousand years ago? No way!" Chris get up.

"You said... You play Blitzball?"

"Uh-huh."

"You know, you should go to Luca. Someone might know who you are, or you might find someone you recognize."

"Luca?"

"It's a city that's ways off from here. There's a Blitzball stadium and everything." Chris stated.

"Okay, leave it to me! I'll get you to Luca, promise! You'd rather stay here? Okay, I'll go tell the others. Wait here. Oh, and one thing. Don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand, okay? Yevon says it's a holy place. You might upset someone."

"Upset who?" Tidus asked but Rikku already left.

"She means watch what you say." Chris interject. "And you're not sick because of Sin's Toxin. This is your first step into another world, same for me."

"But if what Rikku said was true..."

"I don't know the full story of it myself."

"But I thought Sin just took me to some faraway place that I can return in a day or two. But a thousand years into the future?! No way!"

Tidus got mad and kicks the cargo.

"Calm down!" Chris suggested. Suddenly there was vibrations coming from the water rock the whole ship. Chris held on to the cargo while Tidus tumbled to the railing, nearly falling of the ship. Two of the Al Bheds came out, tumbling as well.

"Sin!" An Al Bhed said.

"Sin ec lusa! (Sin is come!)" Another Al Bhed said.

"Ihtan ic! Ihtan ic! (Under us! Under us!)" A third Al Bhed said.

A huge tidal wave emerges from the ocean and rammed the ship causing Tidus to be sweep away by the currents as it wash the deck. Chris and the Al Bhed held on as much as they could.

"Tidus!" Was all Chris could say, as he moved to the railings only to watch Tidus sinking into the whirlpool before his eyes. After a few moments, the waters calm down again.

"Ajanouha ymnekrd? (Everyone alright?)" The Mohawk Al Bhed said. Chris continued looking onward, hoping that Tidus will be fine.

"Sin kud res. (Sin got him.)" An Al Bhed said.

"You okay?" Rikku asked Chris.

"Little water-logged, but fine." Chris replied, still wondering about Tidus.

"Drana'c hu fyo ra luimt ryja minjejat. (There's no way he could have survived.)" Another Al Bhed said.

"Drana's ymfyoc y cmes lryhla ra luimt, druikr. (There's always a slim chance he could, though.)" The Mohawk Al Bhed stated, before walking back into the ship. The other Al Bhed followed him in.

"Worried about him?" Rikku asked.

"Yeah, but I'm sure he'll be alright, though. We'll meet up again sometime soon." Chris reassured himself. "I've played this game so many times, I should know."

"Played this game?" Rikku asked not sure what he meant by that.

"Ahhhh... Nevermind! I'm just spewing random crap!" Chris realized what he said and tried to make up an excuse for it.

"Well, we'll be heading for home pretty soon so sit tight." Rikku said before entering the ship herself. Chris decided to lie down near the cargo. He felt the ship moving to it's destination: Home.


	3. Bikanel Island and Salvage Mission

September 14, 2010 AD (Tuesday - 12:04) Clear

The sun was shining bright as the Al Bhed ship began to dock near Bikanel Island. Chris looks to see numbers of Al Bhed working. He notice one of them was bald, who was awaiting their arrival. Rikku emerged from the ship.

"Bikanel Island!" Rikku said.

"That's a lot Al Bhed in one place!" Chris said, impressed by the sight. Chris notice a much bigger ship.

"Whoa! What's that?" Chris asked. Pointing to the big ship.

"That ship's for salvaging much bigger prizes the ocean has!" Rikku replied. "We'll be using it for the airship!"

"Think they'll suspect me as some kind of Yev-whatever?"

"Well, you don't appear to be with Yevon. Don't worry, I'll vouch for you." The ship safely docked on the harbor. The Mohawk and two other Al Bhed exit the ship and walked onto the harbor. Rikku and Chris followed them.

"Man, It's hot. How can you survive with all that gear on?" Chris said, not use to being in a desert.

"You get use to it." Rikku admitted. "Bubc! (Pops!)" She called to the old man.

"Rikku! Oui'ja syta ed pylg! (Rikku! You've made it back!)" The old man replied. "Ruf tet ed ku? Yhodrehk? (How did it go? Anything?)"

"Dra naluntc fana nekrd! Dra airship ec hayn Baaj Temple! (The records were right! The airship is near Baaj Temple!)"

"Aqlammald! Fa'mm bnabyna nekrd yfyo vun dusunnuf! Rayt Home vun cusacrehk du ayd! (Excellect! We'll prepare right away for tomorrow! Head Home for something to eat!)"

"Ur, emsucd vunkud. (Oh, almost forgot.)" Rikku turned and pointed at Chris. Rikku explained what happened to her father. As Chris watched Rikku talk with her dad, he began to feel an awkward presence from the other Al Bhed as they talked about him. He didn't understand what they were saying, but he didn't like it.

"Frana't ra lusa vnus? (Where'd he come from?)"

"Drehg ra'c y Yevon cbo? (Think he's a Yevon spy?)"

"Hu, ra's duu ouihk. (No, he's too young.)" Chris felt a wave of uncomfortably from them.

"Rikku, oui'na duu lynamacc! (Rikku, you're too careless!)" the mohack one said.

"Crid ib! Fa'na hud fiends hun monsters! (Shut up! We're not fiends nor monsters!)" The old man shouted to the Mohawk.

"Pid vydran! (But father!)"

"Hu suna dyng uv drec! Ruf yna fa eho paddan dryh Yevon un dra paycdc dryd bnao uh dra mejehk?! (No more talk of this! How are we any better than Yevon or the beasts that prey on the living?!)" The old man then walked over to Chris looked back at him.

"Umm... Hi... How's it going?" Chris said, nervously. The old man look as his face turned from serious to a smile.

"Heh-heh-heh!" The old man laughed, placing a arm over Chris's shoulder. "You don't have to be so nervous! You've came a long ways! You must be tired! Rikku shall take you Home for something to eat! I'll get you a room to stay in! Chris, right? I'm called Cid."

"Thanks, sir. And nice to meet you." Chris replied.

"Same here. Now that's settled..." Cid said, before looking to the Al Bhed. "Fryd yna oui ynn cdyhtehk ynuiht vun!? Kad pylg du fung! (What are you all standing around for!? Get back to work!)" The sudden outburst cause some of the Al Bhed to get shocked and confused, causing some to knock into each other. Chris and Rikku laughed at this while Cid sighed.

"Alright, follow me, we'll go by Hover." Rikku pointed at one of the Hovers. "Don't worry, I'll drive!" Chris could feel the sweat rolling down his neck when her heard that, it wasn't to reassuring. He was right as Rikku started by riding over a sand dome into the air, the rest of the ride was pleasant.

---

Chris and Rikku made their way to Home as no fiends could attack them along the way. Chris looked at the mechanical building, it wasn't being invaded by Guado or anything yet so Chris was able to witness it in all its glory.

"Any Final Fantasy fan would give an arm and a leg just to stand here." Chris said to himself. He followed Rikku into the building, once inside he never saw so much Al Bhed in one place. "Wow, lot of people here!" Rikku looked at Chris all confused. "What?"

"You said 'people'?" Rikku asked.

"Yeah, all these people in one place." Chris replied "Why?"

"That the first time a non-Al Bhed ever called us 'people'." Rikku stated. "Makes us feel the same."

"Well, to each his own."

"Fair enough. First off, lets get something to eat, the mess hall's this way." Rikku said as she walked through the corridors with Chris on tow. He saw plenty of machina helping with some tasks. Some were on patrol and some were building stuff. In the mess hall, machina were hear too. These were programmed to clean up plates and the table. There was few Machina near the stoves and one distictive looking one with a chef's hat, these where programmed to cook the food. The one with the chef's hat waved at Rikku as she got close to the counter.

"Rikku! (Rikku!)" The chef's Machina said. This one was also programmed to speak but it could only speak Al Bhed.

"E's pylg! (I'm back!)"

"Ruf't ed ku? (How'd it go?)"

"Fa'ja vuiht dra airship! (We've found the airship!)"

"Aqlammald! (Excellect!)" Rikku explained what happen at the Baaj Temple and the site. Chris couldn't follow so he turned to see some of the Al Bhed finish their meals before turning back to Rikku as she finishes her story.

"Dryhg oui vun ouin ramb! (Thank you for your help!)" The chef said. Chris couldn't replied because of his rusty Al Bhed.

"He said, 'Thank you.'" Rikku replied.

"Oh, don't mention it!" Chris said, scratching the back of his head. Rikku handed him a menu.

"Pick what you want and the Machina will make it." Rikku said. Chris looked at the menu but couldn't understand it as it was in Al Bhed.

"Ummm... Can't read it." Chris said, handing the menu back to Rikku. "I'll just have whatever I had on the boat."

"You mean curry? Sure! You go ahead and sit down. This won't take long." Rikku said before turning to chef.

"Okay." Chris said. 'Oh, so that WAS curry...' He sat down at one of the tables and waited for the food to be served. He took this time to observe the Al Bhed. They were speaking Al Bhed, but he didn't mind. He sees Rikku returning with plates of food.

"Rikku!" A voice was heard calling for Rikku, it was Cid. We wanted to talk to her for a moment.

"I'll be right back. You can go ahead and eat." Rikku head over to her father who began discussing somethings with her. Chris stated with his meal until Rikku walked back.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked swallowing his food.

"We're just talking about the room you'll be staying in. There's only one available and you'll have to share it with someone else and..." Rikku replied.

"And?"

"The person isn't very friendly to most of the Al Bhed here except for me and my dad."

"Well, any alternatives?"

"It's the only room with an extra bed. The man's a blacksmith for hire but doesn't speak Al Bhed and he doesn't like that his works is being used for machinery. They say he's the best blacksmith in Spira. He originally was going to be a guardian, but the temples rejected him."

"But why?"

"I tried to ask but all I got was a grunt."

"Sounds like he had a hard time."

"We'll lets finish our meal and I'll take you to him."

After they finished their meals, Chris followed Rikku to a room at the far end of the corridor. It's one of the area's Chris never seen in the game itself.

"Here we are." Rikku said as she knocked on the door. "Alsmith, it's Rikku!"

"One second." A voice was heard from within the room. The door open to reveal a muscular man who looks 18. He wear a white shirt and blue trousers. "What is it? More materal to forge to waste on ammo?" He sounded like Chris, but a bit more blunt.

"Uhh... no." Rikku replied. "We found someone at the Baaj Temple and he..."

"I know, he needs a place to stay." He finished what Rikku was going to say. "Well, where is he?"

"Right here. His name's Chris. Chris, this is Alsmith. He's called that is because he can create all type of weapons and armor." Rikku stated, but was ignored for a split second as Chris and Alsmith seem like they know each other somehow. "Hello?" Rikku asked, this brought the two back to their senses for a bit.

"He can say as long as can keep his hands of my furnace and my equipment." Alsmith said before walking back into the room.

"Well, I'll see you later." Rikku said. "We'll be needing your help salvaging the ship."

"You sure? I won't wanna get in your way." Chris said.

"You'll be with the Al Bhed to watch for any fiends that may attack us." Rikku said. "Later." Rikku walks of as Chris enters the room. It wasn't a bad place, not dusty or dirty, but hot due to the furnace. From where Chris was standing to his left there was a bathroom door and a bed to the left of it, followed by a set of pipes that stretch from the floor to the ceiling, next to that was another bed with some drawers at the end, following that was the furnace and an anvil. Alsmith was sitting in front of it.

"Take the bed near the bathroom. The other one's mine." Alsmith said without turning. Chris walked over and sat down on the bed.

"You're a blacksmith of sorts, right?" Chris asked.

"Of sorts? Kid, I'm the best one on this rock they call a planet. My skills are renown throughout Spira." Alsmith stated. "But what about you? What's a mage like you doing on a backwater island like this?" He takes a drink from his canteen.

"Well, I won't tell anyone from this world but..."

"This world? You're not from this world?"

"Yes, my world's called Earth. Some things happen and we had to leave it."

"We?"

"Me and my friends. Wait a minute, they weren't with me when I came here. I hope their alright."

"If you survived the trip here, your friends would, too. Don't whine over it."

"I'm not whining, I quit that a long time ago." Still though, if their all together it's alright. Carmen can hold his own, Evan, I don't know how well he can fair, and Angela, I hope she's safe. "Anyway, I heard that you wanted to be come a guardian but got refused. Why's that?"

"It's because I once sold my wares to an Al Bhed once. The instant I did, I was banned from the temples and it was also the fact I don't like their 'precious' teachings. They haven't helped us 1000 years ago and they won't help us now."

"What did you do?"

"I continued selling armor and weapons in Luca to anyone wanting to hunt fiends. I don't sell weapons to young kids, however."

"How long have you done this?"

"I was fascinated with blacksmith as a young boy and made my first weapon, a mace, when I was only 8."

"8 years old! That's amazing!"

"I also have a special dream I wanna complete. I wanna create the most powerful sword in the universe, but the materials I need are almost impossible to find. May even take a lifetime to complete."

"What's it called?"

"I haven't named it yet." Alsmith realizes what he was saying. "What's with me? I'm bearing my soul and sharing my dreams with someone I barely met. Forget about it, kid." Chris let out a yawn. "Tired, kid?"

"Haven't slept since I got here."

"Take a nap, then. I'll tell Rikku or Cid that you're resting." And with that Chris removed his robe, lied down on the bed and slowly drifted of to sleep.

-----

In his sleep, Chris was falling, head first, down an dark abyss for miles and began to see streams of blue liquid, they were thin at first, but got thicker as he continue his descend until the blue streams surrounded him and he found himself within it. He sees a bit of a ripple in the streams in front of him. For some reason, it sounded like a young lady's voice.

"Chris... top... her... Chris... topher?"

"Who's calling me?"

"It looks like... we've finally met... Christopher... Christopher... a word... to define an individual... to distinguish between many... and it's meaning... the Bearer... of Christ..."

"Okay, you know me. But who OR what are you?"

"I am the one... who made you... But I'm not worth... mentioning yet... But do you know you... know yourself...?"

"I am Christopher Michael Cifelli."

"I don't mean your given name or family name... I mean... your true self."

"My true self..."

-----

Same Day (14:35) - Clear

Chris wakes up finding himself a bit groggy and doused in sweat. He doesn't know if it was from the furance or the dream he had. Was it a dream, or wasn't it?

As he stood up, he heard Alsmith and Cid's voice.

"We'll be leaving in a bit." Cid said. "Tell him for me."

"I will." Alsmith replied, as he saw Chris sitting up when Cid left. "You're up, kid. They'll be leaving soon."

"How long was I asleep for?" Chris asked.

"Only an hour or so. You're all sweaty."

"And groggy... Got a shower here?"

"In the bathroom, I'll be taking one after you... Can you flush for me?"

"Why?"

"You'll find out..." Chris got up and entered the bathroom as a putrid smell from the toilet hit him.

"Ewww, PU! What did you eat?" Chris said, holding his nose from the smell.

"Hey, I had tacos for lunch!" Alsmith stated.

"That's more than tacos... Whoo!" Chris replied as he flushed the toilet. Chris forget something as he look backed out. "Got a spare change of clothing."

"Nothing for your class."

"Oh well... At least these are water resistant." Chris said taking of his shoes, hopped into the shower and turned the water on. "Huh?" Chris became puzzled as he couldn't feel the cold water touch his body and was absorbed into his skin and clothing, healing any wounds and fixing any rips he had. "What's happening to me?" After being in the shower for 10 minutes or so, Chris got out and saw how young he looked in the mirror by his face, the lack of facial hairs, height and body mass. "I've definitely regressed back to my teens."

"If you're done admiring yourself, I like to take my shower now." Alsmith said, bluntly. Chris, who didn't have to dry himself or his clothing as they were already dry, walked out of the bathroom as Alsmith walked in. "Head to the main entrance. Rikku should be waiting there." With that, Chris put his robe back on, left the room and continued down the hallway to the main entrance. He couldn't see Rikku at all and thought that she was outside. As Chris exited Home, he saw another being emerged from the outside.

"Oh, you're up! Sleep well?" The being asked, which was Rikku.

"I was a little groggy and sweaty, but I'm alright now." Chris replied.

"We'll be heading soon. Got your stuff?"

"I'm all set."

"Where's your weapon?"

"It's in a safe place." Chris didn't wanna give away how his weapon can go into his body as he didn't understand it himself.

"Come with me. I'll take you to the docks." Chris followed Rikku over to one of the Hovers. Chris put on his goggles he received and got in.

"Hold on tight!" Rikku said as she started the Hover. The two road off over the domes they've crossed before and made their way to the docks. Like before, none of the fiends were fast enough to catch them. During the ride...

"How do you like it here so far?"

"It's an alright place so far. Hard to believe that a world that revolves around death has lively people."

"Things weren't always like this. It basically started 1000 years ago, when Bevelle and Zanarkand were constantly at war with each other. This is known now as the Machina War."

"The Machina War?" Chris said.

"I don't know what truly happened or how it started, but Sin emerged in between the fighting and began to destroy Zanarkand into nothing but ruins, this cause all of Spira to cower in fear until Yunalesca, the first summoner, vanquished Sin. But Sin couldn't be entirely defeated, as for every 10 years Sin is reborn and then new Summoners rise up to defeat Sin again, but each time someone does..." Rikku stopped as it was very painful.

"They die." Chris finished.

"Yes." Rikku nodded. "It's not really explained but when a Summoner first summons the Final Aeon. It completely kills them. Some say that it sucks the life from them."

"What about you guys?"

"Before I was born, Sin attacked our home without warning and scattered us across Spira. But my dad gather us one-by-one and came here to set up our new home, away from Yevon. I know it's against the teaching's to use Machina, but with them, life will be much easier."

"Well, I don't care about Yevon and it's bull crap. This is free will and without it we would all be mindless zombies that must think the same."

"That was most of the Al Bhed think, too! Free will! You aren't one of them."

"Told you. I also don't like how Yevon runs things in Spira, religion is fine and all, and I do get that they aren't trying to repeat past mistakes, but I prefer free will over that."

"Well said. We're almost their soon, the docks are just over that dome." Chris and Rikku made it to the docks and see Cid talking to the Mohawk Al Bhed, who had a concern look on his face.

"What's wrong, Pops?"

"Oh, it Sin. You said you had a encounter with him at the siting, right? Well there could be a chance that he's still there or one of his spawn even."

"The spawn we can handle, but Sin's the problem."

"Won't Sin come back for it's spawn?" Chris joined in.

"Yes, that why we'll need to kill it before Sin returns."

"Well, I'm all set. Got my spells and whatnot."

"You'll be riding on Rikku and Brother's ship. It's going to be a long ride, though."

"See you on the ship." Chris starts walking towards the ship but ran into a man.

"Byntuh sa! (Pardon me!)" The man said. Chris recognized who it was, but decided to keep it low.

"Excuse me?"

"Ah, forgive me." The man replied. "I meant to say 'pardon me' but it came out in Al Bhed. You must be the boy Cid mentioned. I'm Rin. Hela du saad oui! (Nice to meet you!)"

"Nice to meet you, too. Right?"

"Oh? You understand Al Bhed?"

"I'm a little rusty at it, though."

"If you like you can brush up on it if you're going to stay with us. I have a primer containing all the letters of the Al Bhed, translated from English." Rin gave Chris a premium primer.

"Thank you!"

"I will let you go over the fundamentals on your own. Ask Rikku, Cid or me if you need help. Though you might wanna be careful when speaking our language."

"I get the message. Don't worry." With that, Chris headed to the ship and began to read the primer as he waited. He wanted to help out, but he decided that he would only get in the way. His job was to help fight any Sinspawn or fiends that may hinder their progress. Chris would use his magic, but remembered not to use Lightning magic when Rikku's around so Chris will just use Wind magic. After about 30 minutes or so, the ships were ready to sail to their destination. Chris continued to read the primer, while sitting on the deck, working on pronunciations.

-----

Same Day (18:23) Cloudy

The ships slowly approach the site as they came to a halt. Chris looked over the railing and saw that the lights were still active, revealing the sunken airship. Some of the Al Bhed came out of the other ships. Rikku and her crew came out.

"We're here!" Rikku said, before looking at Chris. "Ready?"

"Ajanouha! Pakeh Ubanydeuh! (Everyone! Begin Operation!)" Cid said. With that all the Al Bhed, one after another began to dive into the water. Rikku and her crew dived in but Brother stayed on deck. Chris climbed down the ladder before diving, but left the primer on the deck. Chris began to swim around to patrol for any fiends or Sinspawn. They didn't have too much trouble as some of it were just the fish ones from before. No Sinspawn yet, though. That was until the first hook grappled on the ship was when Chris could feel it through the Ocean depths. A Sinspawn was approaching from the Northeast, moving at rapid speed.

"Fydlr uid! (Watch out!)" Chris shouted. But to no avail, as the Sinspawn rammed into some of the Al Bhed. It looked like a shark by appearance, and it was out for blood. This Sinspawn was completely different from the other Sinspawn Chris saw before. While some of the Al Bhed keep the Sinspawn busy, Chris started to cast a wind spell, "Wind Bolt!" The bolt of wind travels through the seawater, which caused it to be pushed aside. The bolt hit it's mark, but it wasn't weak to it. Chris tried a different spell, "Arcane Missiles!" Three bolts of arcane energy, one after another, shot forth an hit their mark. It didn't do a lot, but more than the Wind Bolt did. Chris tried another spell, "Napalm Beat!" As the Ghost spell hit, the Sinspawn flinched as Pyreflies began to leave it's body. Ghost was it's weakness. With that in mind, Chris continued using Napalm Beat, until much to his surprise, he learned and unleashed a new spell: "Soul Strike!", which send a spirit at the Sinspawn. This dealt the finishing blow as Pyreflies left it's body as it sank to the bottom before disappearing into nothing.

Some of the Al Bhed continued their job as Rikku gave Chris a thumbs up. The big ship began to slowly pull the airship out of it's watery prison and left a giant hole behind. The airship was successfully salvaged by the Al Bhed, but something didn't feel right for Chris as he looks at the giant hole. He saw something emerging from it, which appeared to be tenticles. Chris began to swim away from it as it revealed to be a Giant Kraken.

"MUUG UID! (LOOK OUT!)" Chris yelled. This alerted the other Al Bhed and saw what he was swimming from. Some of them began to shot at the Kraken, it did little damage to it. The Kraken whacked some of the Al Bhed away, Rikku tried an back assault, but it resulted in her capture by one of it's tentacles. Chris tried a spell, but was knocked back to a cliff and was flipped upside down, and caused something in his pocket to fall out. It was the Chaos Emerald, it manage come with him. Very fortunate as he can use Chaos Control, and this will be his first real test. As some of the Al Bhed tried to free Rikku from it's grasp, Chris began to cast spells to weaken the Kraken's tentacle enough for Chris to gain enough power for "Chaos Control!" Chris disappeared and slashed off the tentacle, which freed Rikku. Chris, still in Chaos Control, helped her reach the surface and to her ship. Chaos Control weared off and Chris was pulled down by the Kraken.

"Chris!" was all Rikku said. Brother quickly dived in to help Chris.

Next: Kraken Battle and Home.

Chris' first major battle with the Kraken finally begins with the support of the Al Bhed, returns Home for a well-deserved rest and a new mission.


End file.
